PUCL team confirms starvation death in Gaya village

A PUCL team which visited Dehuri village of Atari block of the district to hold an on the spot inquiry into the alleged starvation death of a physically challenged young man Naushad, has confirmed starvation as the cause of death.

| TNN | Updated: Sep 26, 2012, 05:26 IST

GAYA: A PUCL team which visited Dehuri village of Atari block of the district to hold an on the spot inquiry into the alleged starvation death of a physically challenged young man Naushad, has confirmed starvation as the cause of death. The team has also indicted the official machinery for being callous and inefficient as despite apparent poverty, the dead man was neither granted the pension to which he was entitled on account of being mentally challenged, nor the family enjoyed BPL benefits.

The five-member PUCL team that visited the village and came out with six pages long report included Brahma Nand Sharma, Ejaz Ahmad Khan and Father Jose. PUCL has forwarded the report to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for follow up action. The inquiry team came to the conclusion that autopsy was deliberately not done on Naushad's body to cover up the failures of the local officials associated with the execution of poverty alleviation and welfare schemes.

Earlier, Gaya DM Bandana Preyasi ordered an in inquiry into the starvation death allegation and the likelihood of operation cover up by local officials to conceal their failures. The local officials also sent misleading and contradictory reports on the issue. ADM Ram Bilas Paswan was entrusted with the inquiry.

Bathani sub-division and Atri block officials have been maintaining that Naushad, victim of alleged starvation death suffered from epilepsy and died a natural death, the stock official position in all such cases.In fact, mentally challenged Naushad survived on the meager earnings of her mother who made agarbatti (incense stick) to keep the family kitchen warm. Due to rain, the woman lost her job and the family went into starvation mode.

Defensive officials of the Atari block keep on asking why and how Naushad's 'starving mother and sister' escaped death. Naushad's immune system was weak as compared to that of his mother and sister as he suffered from certain physical and mental disabilities, say villagers.

Asked about the outcome of the official inquiry conducted by him, the ADM said Naushad's death was natural as the young man suffered from 'some ailment'. He based his report on the submissions made by the Bathani SDO, said the ADM.

Reacting to the PUCL report, Atri MLA Krishna Nandan Yadav said Naushad died due to malnutrition and not starvation. "Malnutrition is a national phenomenon," said the JD(U) MLA. Admitting goof up in the preparation of BPL list, the MLA held the system responsible for BPL anomalies. The MLA indicted local officials for not granting pension to the alleged starvation death victim, even though, he held the disability certificate.

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